The Graniteville train crash was an American rail disaster that occurred on January 6, 2005, in Graniteville, South Carolina. At 2:39 am EST, two Norfolk Southern freight trains collided near the Avondale Mills plant in Graniteville. Nine people were killed and over 250 people were treated for toxic chlorine exposure. The crash was determined to be caused by a misaligned railroad switch.

Crash

On January 5, 2005, NS local train P22 (led by GP59 #4622) began its daily operation. The regularly assigned conductor and engineer were both off duty on January 5, and the jobs were filled for the day from a list of available standby employees.

Economic consequences

Norfolk Southern announced that it expected the disaster to cost between $US 30 and $40 million, including the corporation's self-insurance retention under its insurance policies and other uninsured costs, but not any fines or penalties that might be imposed.

On May 25, 2005, lawyers involved in the damages claims against Norfolk Southern announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement on settlements for area residents and business that were evacuated but did not seek medical attention. In this preliminary settlement, Norfolk Southern would offer each resident who was evacuated and did not seek medical attention within 72 hours of the accident a flat amount of $2,000 for the evacuation plus $200 per person per day of the evacuation. These amounts are separate from any property damage claims. Claims that involve injury or death are not included in this settlement, but are still being negotiated.

On May 22, 2006, Avondale Mills' CEO, Robert Williams Sr., announced that his firm would close all its plants, corporate and sales offices no later than July 25, throwing more than 4,000 workers across four states out of work. Mr. Felker cited the 2005 derailment as the primary reasons for the company's failure. The wreck knocked out the Gregg plant of Avondale Mills, which was a key pillar to the survival of the company in a shrinking United States textile market. The plant accounted for 40% of the company's sales.

Stephen Felker Jr., Avondale's manager of corporate development stated, "We were prepared to weather the storm of global competition. What we weren't prepared for was an event such as this derailment, which was completely beyond our control." Avondale Mills Inc. reached a $215 million settlement with its insurance company for damages caused by the train derailment and fatal chemical spill.

Graniteville residents assumed that since the plant would have been fully insured and/or covered by Norfolk Southern's accident insurance, that the owners chose to take the settlement money and leave rather than rebuild the damaged plant.

However, G. Stephen Felker Sr. stated "We do not believe that the settlement fully compensates us for the full value of the losses incurred as a result of the Norfolk Southern derailment" Among the federal rules regarding turnouts are:

  • The normal position for turnouts on mainline tracks is for mainline through traffic.
  • When trains are required to clear the mainline track, they will not report that the track is clear until there are no obstructions on the mainline track and all turnouts are set for the mainline position and locked in place.

The FRA further recommended

On April 7, 2008, Norfolk Southern and interests representing Avondale Mills, and its surviving entities, reached a confidential out of court settlement.

On April 24, 2008, Norfolk Southern was sued by the U.S. EPA for violations of the Clean Water Act, as Horse Creek had been polluted. In a similar lawsuit in Pennsylvania, where a derailed Norfolk Southern runaway train crashed, the state of Pennsylvania sued the railroad for similar violations and won several million dollars for environmental remediation. However, fines may be minimal when compared to the damage to the surrounding environment.

On March 8, 2010, Norfolk Southern Railway Company agreed to pay $4 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and hazardous materials laws for a 2005 chlorine spill in Graniteville, S.C. Under the settlement filed in federal court in Columbia, S.C., Norfolk Southern will be required to pay a civil penalty of $3,967,500 for the alleged CWA violations, to be deposited in the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. The alleged CWA violations, included in an amended complaint filed in March 2009, are for the discharge of tons of chlorine, a hazardous substance, from a derailed train tank car and thousands of gallons of diesel fuel from ruptured locomotive engine fuel tanks. For the alleged Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) violation for failure to immediately notify the National Response Center of the chlorine release, Norfolk Southern will pay a penalty of $32,500, to be deposited in the Hazardous Substance Superfund. Under the terms of the agreement, Norfolk Southern will provide incident command system training to environmental and transportation personnel; stock nearby Langley Pond with at least 3,000 fish to replace fish killed by the chlorine spill; and post the telephone number for the National Response Center to facilitate spill reporting. Further, the settlement includes a supplemental environmental project (SEP) valued at $100,000 to plant vegetation along the banks of Horse Creek to decrease erosion and sedimentation, thereby improving water quality in Horse Creek.

On May 24, 2005, Norfolk Southern was awarded the TRANSCAER National Achievement Award for 2004. TRANSCAER is an acronym for Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response, which aims to promote emergency preparedness among first responders and communities for crashes that involve chemical releases.<!--by whom is this award given? May be WP:grandstanding--> Part of the reasons for NS's selection for this award were the emergency preparedness training that the railroad held in 18 of the 22 states through which the railroad transports hazardous materials.

Texas folk artist Doug Burr memorialized the Graniteville crash in his song "Graniteville" in his 2007 released album On Promenade. The song is fictionalized account of a husband attempting to rouse his wife from sleep to escape the dangers of the chemical spill. NS 6653, the lead engine of 192 that day, was repaired and later rebuilt as an SD60E bearing the number 6900.

References

  • NTSB Railroad Accident Report NTSB/RAR-05/04 PB2005-916304
  • FRA Accident Investigation Report HQ-2005-02
  • TRANSCAER